Behrampore, Nov. 24:A high school teacher in Jalangi, who was about to retire next year, was suspended yesterday following charges of molesting a Class VI student.

Dhananjoy Bagchi has been absconding since the alleged incident of November 14.

Bagchi, a work education teacher at Sadikhandiar High School, had asked the girl students of Class VI to get a classwork he had assigned earlier checked. When Aulia Khatun entered an empty classroom where Bagchi was seated, to show her work, he allegedly asked her to shut the door and undress. She told her parents later that she had been abused.

After the incident, a shocked and confused Aulia left the school for the day without letting anybody know. On reaching home, she broke down. The family was initially hesitant about the course of action. But her father lodged a complaint with the Jalangi police station on November 15. The police sat over it.

Once the villagers came to know about the incident and the police inaction, they gheraoed the school on November 16 with the demand that the teacher be handed over. Headmaster Sampad Biswas, however, assuaged the angry mob by promising “action”.

The school managing committee and the teachers met yesterday and decided on suspending Bagchi.